I heard a wilted flower speak

Posted bywordsandcoffee1Posted inPoetry, Teaching, W3 PromptsTags:, , , , , , 



one morning, bland and weak,
I heard a wilted flower speak
of our future tribulations
of our far-off destinations

our technicolor tapestry
life's seeming mystery to me
a tightly coiled secret kept
a trepid toil overstepped

the whisper of earth's voice
a shiver scattered once or twice
like autumn's petals in the wind
all our summer days rescinded

This poem was written for this week’s Wea’ve Written Weekly prompt at the Skeptic’s Kaddish, where Jane asks us to do the following:

  • Write a poem of three stanzas inspired by the phrase ‘A Wilted Flower’;
    • Rhyming: Optional

I switched it up this week and included an image from Gemini AI rather than from my own collection of photos. I’m not 100% sold on AI images; I think that many of them, despite being very beautiful, feel a bit bland, like they’re missing the emotion behind the photo. Still, it’s amazing what we can create these days using a little help from artificial intelligence. It’s been a huge (sometimes heated!) discussion in our English & Languages & Communication department and among the rest of the faculty at the college where I teach. Generally we’re accepting that it’s a tool we’ll need to adapt to and incorporate into our classrooms, though we have the old school folks who will resist it until their retirement. For me, ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot have been neat resources to brainstorm with my students and to help them troubleshoot difficult questions in a quick way. Gemini is new to me; though it’s images are occasionally freaky (has it not ever seen real human hands??), it’s also a fun tool. I’ll generate specific photos for different lessons with my students. Figuring out the right prompts to create the idea in your mind is also something I oddly enjoy. It feels like solving a problem…or finding just the right words for your poem. 💗

18 thoughts on “I heard a wilted flower speak”

  2. The earth has sent out plenty of warnings. One might even say omens. But we seem to be deaf. Excellent poem.

    I’m one of those who does not like AI art. Forty years ago they introduced CAD into our textile design room. It never, ever equaled a human hand in creating a design. Still, it’s cheap and effective, so I get it. But that’s why design these days is so bland. It’s attractiveness has no personality, like a botoxed face. (K)

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    1. That’s a great way of describing it: attractive without personality. I asked it to create a picture of a sunset and it was neat with lots of bold colors, but it didn’t feel like a real sunset. It doesn’t have that heart that real art does, but it gets the job done I suppose. I’ll probably use it for tools to illustrate ideas in class mostly, but not on here too often.

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  4. AI as a tool is wonderful as long as it isn’t a replacement for human creativity. When is it used it can be a good thing but when it is abused it becomes a stumbling block. I do like the poem especially the rhymes you used!

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    1. Thanks! I agree. It seems easy to abuse, so there is a lot of focus at our college at teaching students to use it as a tool rather than as a crutch. Even this week, there’s another email chain in my department about another AI-related concern; it never ends.

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  5. Its wonderfully beautiful, Sarah. True for certain heavy frame of mind…. If only upswing, some pleasing word in place of ‘rescind’ would change the whole mood of the poetry. And I wish the same word for all. My kudos…🌹

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